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Academics call for Brexit plan B

Researchers are still waiting for a UK government plan to shield the country’s most internationally oriented academics from the fallout of a no-deal Brexit, including those leading projects funded under the European Union’s €80-billion (£72bn) Horizon 2020 programme.

The government said on 23 August that in the “unlikely” scenario of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement in March 2019, UK researchers and businesses should bid for Horizon 2020 calls open to countries outside the bloc. It is “seeking discussions with the European Commission to agree the details of our continued participation as a third country”, it said in a first batch of 24 papers outlining contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.

The funding agency UK Research and Innovation would be responsible for delivering the government’s guarantee to underwrite all successful bids submitted by UK participants to Horizon 2020 before the end of 2020, meaning researchers would continue to receive funding for the projects’ duration. UK research institutions and companies that have been awarded Horizon 2020 funding will be invited to register the details of their projects this autumn through a website managed by UKRI.

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